


Do Dreams Really Come True?

by Ceeya (ceeya)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Cameos from the Uchiha Fam, F/M, Mentions of Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:46:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27900967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeya/pseuds/Ceeya
Summary: They met through a chance of fate, but can they turn their dreams into their reality?
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Shisui
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	Do Dreams Really Come True?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bledstars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bledstars/gifts).



> [bledstars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bledstars/pseuds/bledstars) requested for Angst and here it is.

Sakura huffed as she faced the standing mirror at the corner of her room. One last nervous glance to the door,  _ just to be sure _ , before turning back to staring at her reflection.

“H’Okay.” She breathed out, shaking her hands in front of her, her knees fidgeting in place.

Her thumbs and index finger formed a sort of triangle, making sure her middle fingers don’t touch. It was a jutsu for the self, there was no need for an additional point since she didn’t need to circulate chakra to match a stranger’s body.

_ ‘Here we go!’ _ She channeled chakra to her fingers, locked eyes with her mirror image, and pushed the chakra forward.

The moment the jutsu took hold, she blacked out.

* * *

Fugaku was sitting across from his wife in their family training grounds, both of their sharingan activated. Their sons and nephew were off on the side having their usual training session and he was blatantly ignoring the fact they may need to re-landscape the entire area because Sasuke and Shisui do not know the meaning of  _ moderation _ .

That was a problem for later. Now, he was trying out the limits of his mangekyou. It had been a while since he needed to use it, but with the rising tension amongst all the great nations, one cannot afford to be complacent.

That was where his wife came in. Mikoto’s mangekyou was special. It deactivates any effect of jutsus that were cast on her, allowing her to shrug off any genjutsu or blood limit that would control her body or mind. This also made her the perfect practice partner. He could try out different combinations and, combined with her analytic mind, she could both dispel the jutsu and tell him which part needed improvement.

And it was important especially for this technique. He had mixed a bit of the Yamanaka’s mind trap technique with a repeating genjutsu similar to Itachi’s Tsukuyomi so the target will be locked into their own mind while he could order the body to do any action directed by his thoughts, the user being in a dreamscape ensuring that the target won’t be conscious enough to fight back. This needed to be tested extensively since he wouldn’t want to accidentally transport his consciousness to the target.

“Ready?” His wife folded her hand on her lap and met his eyes, far more relaxed than anyone should be knowing they were a guinea pig. Mikoto was always far stronger than people expected.

He gave a nod and switched to his mangekyou, channeling chakra through his eyes. By then it was too late.

Just as the jutsu was casted, a loud boom came from where their children were training. Mikoto had turned to look reflexively, and Shisui came into view, being thrown back by whatever caused that explosion.

The moment he sailed by, he locked eyes with the Uchiha clan head before shooting past and hitting his head against the huge tree beside them.

* * *

Sakura rubbed her head as she pushed herself up from the floor, wondering how she ended up here.

She sat up straight when she remembered, looking around the room. Nothing changed, everything was still the same aside from the niggling pain from where she hit the floor falling down.

_ Did it work? _

She closed her eyes and dove deep, wading through the recesses of her mind, pulling up memories and trying to trigger an Inner Sakura response. Nothing, there was only white noise in her mind. The space where her inner personality used to scream out her thoughts empty.

She reopened her eyes and gave a little cheering jump. It worked! They’ve merged. Now there’s no way for her to fail next week’s psych exam. Tokubetsu jonin, here we come!

* * *

Shisui shot up from the grass, one hand reaching up and then wincing when his finger came in contact with the wound on his head.

“Don’t touch that, Shisui.” Mikoto admonished, “Itachi healed it a bit but it’s still going to be sore.” His aunt was sitting to his right while Itachi was kneeling on his left with a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

Shisui looked up when Fugaku crouched in front of him, making him uncomfortable at the sudden scrutiny. He shuffled back a bit until his hands felt the rough bark of the tree behind him. Itachi and Sasuke had called out to their father and even Mikoto breathed out a stern ‘Fugaku’, but the clan head did not budge.

“What happened when you were unconscious? Did you see anything?” Shisui paused at the sudden question. He was about to answer immediately but the unrelenting gaze of his uncle made him think again.

All he remembered was flying across the garden because Sasuke had the  _ genius _ idea to meet one of Itachi’s paper bomb storm with a  _ fire jutsu _ . The last thing he saw was the twisting mangekyou of his uncle and then nothing.

“No. I didn’t see anything. Was I supposed to?” He tried to shake his head, stopping when the slight movement had him flinching as the throbbing came back.

“We don’t know. It was an experimental jutsu. We’re not even sure if there’s going to be any adverse effects.” The worried look on his uncle’s face did not fill him with confidence. Was the technique that dangerous? If he didn’t feel anything by now, shouldn’t it be okay?

He didn’t realise he was voicing his thoughts out loud until his uncle gave a long suffering sigh. 

“Just because it’s not immediate, doesn’t mean there aren’t any consequences.  _ A seed planted will bloom in its own time. _ ”

“It will be fine.” Mikoto interjected before her husband could start on another lecture. “I’ll work with Itachi to make sure that everything is alright. Now, I’m sure you’ll need to placate some of the elders when they come over to complain about the noise.”

The ploy was so obvious that even a child could see through it. Fugaku just let out another sigh and rose up, exchanging a speaking look with his wife before going back indoors, giving an encouraging pat to Itachi’s shoulder and a ruffle of Sasuke’s hair when he passed them.

Once the clan head was out of earshot, the attention refocused on Shisui. He tried to push them away, insisting that he was fine. Itachi instead grasped the sides of his head, gently moving it here and there, taking note of how certain actions caused his cousin to grit his teeth and hiss out in pain.

While Itachi was checking his physical wounds, Mikoto had pulled Sasuke down and instructed him to activate his sharingan, turning the inspection into an impromptu lesson on detecting chakra fluctuations and differentiating the body’s own chakra from an external force.

In the end, outside of a few days of being careful of his head wound, they determined there was nothing wrong that they could catch. But Shisui was given strict instructions to tell Mikoto or Itachi if he noticed anything strange before the teens were left alone.

“Of all people, I can’t believe that your  _ dad _ turns out to be the worrywart.” Shisui complained as he stood up, patting to dislodge the leaves and dirt stuck to his pants. He stretched his arms up, relishing the sensation of blood flowing from his arms all the way to the soles of his feet.

“He worries more for you than either of us. I think he still feels guilty.” Itachi reminded gently, the story of how Shisui became an orphan wasn’t really a secret. Everyone in the clan -- hell, probably Konoha -- knew how the stern clan head practically adopted him after the incident.

“Yeah, and maybe,” Sasuke started, a teasing grin sprouting on his face, “if he feels guilty enough, he’d make Shisui next in line instead of Itachi-nii.”

Shisui shuddered at the thought while Itachi gave a short laugh. If that did occur, Itachi would let go of the title in a heartbeat since it would allow him to focus more on his medical research.

“Don’t even joke about that!”

* * *

Sakura walked in the blank space, looking around, straining to see if there was any end to this dark expanse. Every step she took had no sound. She couldn’t even tell if she was moving forward or simply walking in place.

She was in a dream, right? Pinching herself did nothing...maybe she just had to wait for it to run its course?

Wait...at the corner of her eye, something glinted. She picked up her pace and drew closer to the light, slowing to a stop when she reached it.

It was a mirror wall and there didn’t seem to be any way around it, the wall stretching straight from left to right. She was busy groping around trying to figure out this obstacle that she jumped up like a started cat when a knocking sound came from the wall.

Her feet landed in a fighting stance, ready to take on whatever was trapped in this space with her.

Ferocious green and humor-filled black met, causing her to relax in curiosity. The person across from her looked a bit older than her or maybe it was just the height? His curly hair and easy-going smile made her drop her hands, letting them hang listlessly by her side.

“Who are you?” She just stood there, waiting for a response. She saw him shake his head and open his mouth, making words, but nothing reached her ears. Was the experience the same for him as well?

In that case, a hand curled up and made a few knocking sounds, following the codes that every genin was taught for communicating in covert missions. The growing confusion in his face was disconcerting. Was he not a shinobi? Based on his relaxed yet alert stance, the way his weight was evenly distributed for balance but also for ease of movement pointed to him being one, and a rather highly skilled one at that. Maybe he was a samurai instead?

Her thoughts were cut off when a series of knocks reciprocated her question.

….What?....

There was weird cadence to the raps and even soft vs loud taps? What was this? This didn’t sound like any combination she’d ever heard of and she had devoured books describing the communication processes in the different nations, not enough to be fluent but at least some basics to recognise them. And this was nothing like she’d heard of.

Ugh…  _ fine _ … if code won’t work, then.

She stepped forward until her face was inches from the glass and breathed on the glass, causing it to fog up for her to write. However, before she could even finish a single letter, the fog dissipated, leaving behind clear glass.

The man laughed at her frustrated face and came forward as well, stopping a foot before the barrier. He bit on his index finger until blood flowed and started writing his message.

….???...closed…??...

_ What. The. Hell? _ The words made zero sense. Even if it was inverted, it looked unrecognizable. She copied his movements, her other fist clenching at the prick when her teeth broke skin.

On a clear area beside his writing, she wrote  _ ‘I don’t understand what you wrote.’ _

The recognition in his eyes almost gave her hope, but no. He pointed at the words and then himself accompanied by a shake of his head.

Great. The only person she found in this stupid dream and they couldn’t even understand each other.

She concentrated on him when he started making hand gestures. He had two index fingers pointed at his mouth, slowly forming a few words again and again.

Sui? Chi? Su? Yi? Shi? Suichi? Suishi? Suyichi? Chisui? Shisuyi?

She mouthed the words, following his exaggerated lip movements until he just sighed and then held up two fingers. Two words?

At her tentative nod, his hand switched to just an index finger, which she imitated questioningly. One? Then he made a cutting motion across his neck. Huh? He kept repeating the motion saying Chi? Shi? Wait,  _ dead _ ! SHI!

When it finally registered to her what he was conveying, he then moved on to the second word, mouthing the word su-yi and miming drinking something. It was one word? Drink? Liquid?  _ Water! SUI! _

She put the two words together and he nodded, pointing at himself enthusiastically. That was his name? Shisui? Who would name their kid  _ dead water _ ?

Actually, this was her dream. So doesn’t that mean there was something wrong with her? Dreaming about people named  _ dead water _ ? Was dream Sakura that unimaginative?

Anyway, now that she got his name. It was her turn. This was easy. She tilted her head and tugged at her hair. Then slowly said Sa-Ku-Ra.

As expected, he got it instantly.

Though, after the introduction was done, they just awkwardly stood there. Why was she here? And with this person? After all, don’t dreams usually jump around? Maybe she needed to do something?

She tried touching the glass and then pushing chakra, but nothing would come up. Guess her chakra didn’t work in this dreamscape. She watched as he gave a few thuds against the glass, then stepped back as he pulled back to prepare a punch. 

His hand hit against it with a loud smack, but it didn’t even budge or vibrate. Shisui was not as lucky though, she was sure she heard a few of his bones crack from the force of his hand meeting the immovable object.

And the idiot started shaking his wrist! She pounded the glass and slowly directed him in how to wrap a bandage around his wrist, watching meticulously as he followed her instructions.

With that done, they both ended up sitting on the floor facing each other, not knowing what to do next.

How long will this last? Shouldn't she be waking up soon?

Apparently, he was as bored as her and he took to biting his other finger and drawing random shapes on the glass. Ambidextrous, huh. Fairly practiced too. Most ninjas that are ambidextrous narrowed it down to just weapon and seal usage, not something as arbitrary as writing.

Though it did seem he was as unimaginative as her, his doodles consisted of kunai, shuriken, scrolls, arrows, and the random squiggles that probably made sense in his world or mind or dream, whatever.

Wait...she tilted her head. Was he trying to  _ teach  _ her? It seemed like it, each drawing was pointing to a squiggle. She wanted a  _ word _ with whoever was in charge of this dream. Weapons were not the first words you teach anyone learning a new language.

Thank Kami for her eidetic memory. She would most likely recall all of these unless she wakes up with no recollection of this weird event.

A few words and phrases was as far as she got when the blood drawings suddenly started dissipating in the air. The image of the boy’s fading figure still lingered when she opened her eyes to the light of a new day.

_ Well _ , she gave out a huge yawn and turned to her side, wanting a few more minutes of sleep before having to face her day of hospital shifts and torture (training) from Tsunade.  _ I hope my next dream will be a bit more sensible. _

* * *

Shisui put away the scroll on the shelf, side-eyeing his well-made bed.

Should he continue with the second sealing array or just go to bed? On one hand, he was close to a breakthrough and it could potentially speed up his goal to get rid of the Hyuuga branch house seal, but on the other, he didn't want to miss the potential conversation, if you could call it that, with the strange, pink-haired shinobi in his dreams.

It's been months and the chances of them meeting seems to be increasing. At first, he was ready to chalk it up to some delusion that came up due to that bump on the cherry blossom tree in the garden. After all, that was the only reason why he could dream up a girl that had  _ pink hair  _ and  _ green eyes _ . 

But a few weeks after that dream, when he was close to forgetting it even happened, they met again. And unlike most dreams, she seemed to remember their previous conversation. And outside of that, she brought up stuff he didn't even know of. That incomprehensible language and in-depth medical knowledge he couldn't possibly know, not even by osmosis from Itachi who tended to drone on and on about his apprenticeship with Senju-sama. Itachi's research was mainly focused on the different blood limits and the effects on their chakra pathways, not how to care for typical shinobi-related injuries.

They’ve been muddling along so far. Depicting words and thoughts in drawings was a lot harder than he expected. Questions and explanations were almost impossible to understand without a common language. They had tried lip reading again, but with how slow they had to go to form understandable mouth movements, by the time the sentence was complete, they’d already lost track of the goal of the question or they had already woken up from the dream.

He lifted his comforter and sidled into the warm bed, adjusting so that he was comfortable before closing his eyes. One good thing out of this is that their meetings were frequent enough that he got to try different communication styles and play around with his shinobi knowledge without fear of being overheard or spied on, like a huge blank canvas for his thoughts. That his erstwhile companion seemed smart enough to grasp his concepts and provide input was a plus. He still hasn't ruled out that she may just be a figment of his subconscious, crazy as that sounds.

He felt his entire body become heavy with sleep, sinking into its deep waters before floating upwards and gradually being able to take in the fresh air. By the time his eyes opened, he was already upright, back in that black expanse. With no regard to where he was going, he took one step at a time, knowing it would always lead him back to that place even when it seemed like he was walking in place.

And there it was, that huge glass somehow reflecting a light that didn’t exist. 

By the time he was touching distance from the wall, it seemed Sakura had already been there for a while. She turned the empty space into a mural for her random drawings, which could possibly be her language. Some of the words did look a little bit familiar but interspersed with random shapes so he couldn't really put them together to make sense of it.

She paused for a moment to give him a passing wave before diving back into her equation.

He was content to just pass the time sitting there until it was time to wake up, since this was the only rest time he could give himself. His days were often filled with scrolls and ink and seals in conjunction with his speed training, it was good to have some sort of down time even if it was only in his head.

His eyes were drooping and he was halfway to a yawn - strange that you'd feel sleepy when you're already asleep - when a certain symbol caught his eye. The Hyuuga branch seal!

He sprung up and forward, startling Sakura from her writing. Gesturing towards the seal, he tried to formulate the proper hand gestures to relay his question, using his own blood to draw a circle around the Caged Bird mark.

If he could figure out how to remove it, it would be a huge breakthrough. And he'd finally be able to repay Hizashi-shishou for all the guidance he'd been given.

With their limited transferred vocabulary and loads of hand signs, Sakura managed to get the gist of the message he wanted to convey and started writing additional curves and lines within his drawn circle, turning it into a yin-yang structure reminiscent of the Hyuuga trigrams.

They spend so long going back and forth and drawing then redrawing different combinations that they were caught off guard by the passing of time. Before they knew it, the blood writing was starting to drip and blur, a sign of them having to wake up.

Before the world turned black, he could see Sakura drifting away, her hands lighting fast in signing a message to him.

_ ‘I’ll find out more and we can work on it next time.’ _

The helpfulness and consideration in that action warmed him from the inside even after he had woken up, lighting an anticipating fire that dogged his steps the entire day.

_ ‘I can't wait to see her again.’ _

* * *

Sakura strode towards the hospital with a spring in her step. That last dream had given her what she needed to complete the surgery.

It had taken  _ months _ and she was stuck on how to handle preventing the body’s default adverse reaction to her chakra. But after brainstorming it with Shisui, he’d manage to give her the last piece of the puzzle.

Their initial conversations about seals were a bit abstract at first. They didn’t know if their solution would translate well considering their two worlds used completely different writing systems. But Shisui had reported a successful result when he tested their modified Hyuuga branch seal so that means his solution for the surgery should also work for her.

The moment she woke up, she inked the entire structure onto her scroll and tested it on one of the fish in her home aquarium. She was honestly expecting it to fail. But when it didn’t, she jumped up and almost shrieked in happiness. The fish had just laid there and allowed her to heal it without flailing, her chakra was treated as part of it’s environment instead of a foreign entity.

Her arms, holding onto her scrolls, squeezed a little as she remembered the dream. They had learned enough of each other’s writing with a mix of body language and reading lips to hold entire conversations without having to stop to explain things. It was like having their own unique method of communicating. 

Sakura had gone on a rant about her dozens of failed experiments and how this  _ one last thing _ was the thing stopping her from revolutionising the entire surgical field and she was  _ so close _ and things just wouldn’t come together and how she was just so frustrated and how if it wasn’t for this dreamscape, she probably would be chugging coffee after coffee to slave away at this stupid equation.

She paused to rest her hands and take a breather then saw him sitting cross-legged on the floor coughing and trying to hide a grin against his fist. Her own fists clenched in indignation. Here she was, pouring her heart out and he was  _ laughing _ at her?!

He waved his hands frantically up at her when she looked about ready to start on another tirade so she just crossed her arms and waited for an explanation, her foot tapping on the floor.

_ I’m just glad that you chose to spend time with me rather than working on your seal. I would have missed you if you didn’t show up. _

The signed message combined with the easygoing grin on his face was enough to stop any thought in her head, feeling a warm rush through her as she tried stopping the blush that was creeping up her neck onto her cheeks. She had never wanted a dream to end so badly.

Just the memory of it was enough for a light blush to dust her cheeks. Her lips stretched to an affectionate smile when she recalled what happened after, where he saw how it affected her and changed the topic back to her sealing problem.

So now here she was, problem-less and well on her way to having another good day at the hospital while a part of her couldn’t wait until the next time they’d meet again.

_ And I’ll tell him how his solution went when I see him again. _

* * *

He wondered how long it had been growing within him. It didn’t really strike him until he saw her act so hesitantly. When he saw her pause in writing a message, meet his eye, blush, then turn away.

And the first thing he thought of was how much he’d wanted this glass to go away so he could take hold of her and have her  _ look at him _ . But he couldn't and so he had to step closer and tap out jokes, try to get her to come back and continue chatting with him.

On and on it went, every time they met, he’d leave a little hint, write a little more, tentatively broaching a change in their connection, watching if she felt the same thing.

With each little response, a smile here, a giggle there, gave him more confidence, made him more impatient. He wanted to experience it all. That rosy color kissing her cheeks, how her eyes flashed with both passion and anger during her rants, and the tiny little twitch of her lips that she tried to hide whenever she read his little compliments. And he wanted to be able to  _ touch _ her.

_ Do you think we can find a way to meet? _ He half-wrote, half-signed to her. She looked surprised about him bringing it up before looking thoughtful.

  
The silence - or lack of reaction - lasted until he was almost sure she would decline when she stepped forward, bit her finger, and started writing out what their potential base seal would look like.

His elated expression was met with a shy, but determined one from her and they then focused on making this their next goal.

* * *

Sakura was a bit surprised to see Shisui so focused on the board when she arrived. Usually, she'd be the one starting their project discussions. Though recently, they've spent more time just chatting and getting to know each other than working on any seal or jutsu research.

She looked down at her feet, strands of hair curtaining her face as she tried to hide the building smile. She knew after the first few weeks that she was starting to harbor a crush on her night time companion. She thought it would just pass, that once she knew more about him, it would go away and they'd continue as usual.

Then he started flirting with her and she couldn't help but respond. That, followed with his encouragement during that seal fiasco and his willingness to listen to her outlandish ideas - and even bring up his own! - just made her like him even more.

So when he started showing signs of being more serious about this and talking about finding a jutsu to help them meet outside of this dream, it built up that hope inside of her as well. They could do this. They had managed to figure out a way to remove the Hyuuga branch seal without side effects  _ and _ allow seamless chakra transition during medical procedures, dimension hopping would just be a matter of when, not if.

She wondered what his world was like. They had spoken about potentially making a seal that would allow them to move back and forth since he seemed quite close to his family and she didn’t really want to leave everyone she knew and everything she’d worked for. Maybe she could ask…

She ducked around one huge kanji for dream - how do they not run out of blood in this dream? - and caught his eye through the glass and red ink, giving a tiny wave and a grin.

The serious, contemplative look on his face immediately changed to a cheery one. The dichotomy of it often tripped her up. One moment, they would be joking around and then somehow, he’d grew somber and look at her with such fire that she could only reach out, wishing so much that this time would be the time this world would allow her to go past this wall and meet him halfway.

He signed his usual greeting, adding an exaggerated wink at the end that never failed to make her laugh. He then gestured to the characters that covered almost half of the glass, explaining his thought process on how they could potentially trigger it to open a doorway between them.

She stepped back and looked at the entire drawing in detail, then wrote her own additions to the equation. When the tail end of her  _ space _ character overlapped against the trail of his writing, all the ink on both sides suddenly started glowing a trail from where it connected outward until all the words were shining a bright blue, almost blinding in it’s shine.

When the light faded away, it left behind the crystal clear glass, reverting it to its initial stage at the start of all their dreams.

Sakura strode up to it, giving it continuous knocks. 

Did it seem thinner?

A hand landed on the space across her knuckle and the triumph of this discovery was palpable between them.

They had managed to find a way to trigger the seal! The next step would be to see if this effect lasted past this specific dream or not.

* * *

Shisui was chatting with Aunt Mikoto, half in the conversation while mentally thinking through different alternative solutions. They were so close. The thinning divide between the two worlds was inversely proportional to the patience he had to interacting with his daily life. He couldn't wait for the day he'd be able to bring her over to his world or to experience her world himself.

The one thing that managed to pull him out of his thoughts was the sense two chakra signature arriving outside the compound gate, a controlled flickering fire accompanied with lightning-laced water. The fire was obviously Itachi but he's never felt that other oddly- familiar chakra before...

Outside of that, his cousin was  _ horribly  _ late! And he was bringing someone! To his  _ birthday celebration _ ! Did the birthday boy have an announcement? Will Aunt Mikoto’s dreams of grandchildren finally come true? His aunt seemed to have the same theories with the way a hand went to cover her mouth and her eyes widened in wonder once the two came into view.

He turned around with a teasing grin, ready to pile on the jokes and insinuations  _ all night long _ until his eyes were blessed with pink and green.

It was her! She was here! And with that cherry blossom patterned black yukata, she looked even more ethereal than in his best dreams.

All thoughts flew away as his mind stuttered to a halt. He stared. He knew it was impolite, but he couldn’t help it. One hand had even tried to reach out and touch her before he got a hold of himself, forcing the arm down with a fierce clench.

No one seemed to have noticed his reaction, all too busy wondering who this stranger that Itachi, social recluse and workaholic medic Itachi, had invited to a  _ private gathering _ . They came over to where he was standing stupefied and he started thinking that maybe she was here for him? That she managed to find him after all these months of silent communication because of that accursed wall.

He could feel his mind crack the moment they walked past him, her green, green eyes - far clearer and brighter than jade crystals - met his and looked away indifferently, no hint of recognition in that gaze.

“-- Hatake Sakura.” The young woman bowed when she introduced herself to Mikoto, her voice was deeper than he assumed when she gave her name to their host, giving off a husky tone so incongruent to her looks. Hatake? She was the rumoured Hatake sibling? How did Itachi manage to get her out of her brother’s overprotective eye?

Mikoto did not care about how her surprise guest looked or sounded like or even who her family were. All she wanted to know was what her relationship with Itachi was and how close wedding bells were in the calendar.

“Are you two -?” She didn’t really want to put the two on the spot, but if she wasn’t upfront, Itachi would probably circle the conversation and she wouldn’t get an answer until next year.

To everyone’s surprise, rather than deer-in-headlights that was expected with such a blunt question, Itachi sent a small smile to his partner, who hooked a hand against his elbow and looked back up at him with such a warm, loving gaze in her green eyes. And that was all the answer everyone needed.

Shisui loved his cousin, of that there was no doubt. It didn’t do anything to stop the thoughts clouding his head, shouting  _ but I met her FIRST, _ each echo ringing through him as he caught the words in his throat, almost gurgling at the effort it took to keep silent.

He still hadn’t gotten his composure back when they finished speaking with Mikoto and Itachi introduced her to him. He plastered a cheery smile on his face and gave out his name, dragging out the pronunciation reminiscent of their first meeting.

Itachi just rolled his eyes at his cousin’s antics and Sakura just gave a polite, if confused, smile in response, likely brushing off his actions as poking fun at his cousin. He could feel his eyes trailing her form when they walked away to go to the pond where Fugaku and Sasuke were having a discussion with one of the clan elders.

“No funny business, Shisui.” A voice of warning came from beside him, Mikoto glaring at her nephew. It was the first time her son brought a girl home. She wasn’t about to lose a potential daughter-in-law because of Shisui’s pranks.

“Of course not!” He defended against the accusing look, his fingers agitatedly tapping onto his leg, suddenly unable to wait for this party to end so he could go back to his room and  _ sleep _ . Maybe he could get some answers from  _ his _ Sakura.

* * *

Sakura jogged over to their regular meeting place, arm waving out a hello when she got closer.

It didn't prepare her for the intense almost accusing look that stopped her in her tracks a few feet from him. His eyes scanned her head to toe, goosebumps trailing wherever his gaze hit. 

She felt self-conscious until indignation won over. She squared her shoulders and forced herself to move forward with confidence, slowly writing a huge question mark in between them.

He gave a deep sign and started drawing. Was that...Kakashi-sensei? Had to be with that crazy spiky hair. And her lined up below him? Connecting them together like one of those family trees? 

She placed a big X on top of the drawing and replaced it with a team structure tree with the word  _ teach _ plus a small academy and a graduation symbol to show the process of them going from students to genin.

His shoulders relaxed once he realised what she was trying to convey and he started drawing  _ another _ family tree… with  _ animals? _ She didn't know what he meant until he pointed at the weird noodle hair and himself.

At her tentative nod, he drew a line connecting her to...was that a  _ rat?  _ That was above a  _ duck? _ What the hell?! And drawing a little heart on top of the line… Okay, now she had  _ no idea _ what he wanted to say.

She littered question marks all over that strange family tree along with ???!!! over that stupid heart. 

She watched as he scratched his head and looked away, the other hand tapping on their writing board.

When he finally got an idea, the uchiwa he drew atop the family tree made her apprehensive.  _ Please...please don't… _ When the half-moon divide on the fan was complete, it was her turn to look away.

He was an Uchiha? She didn't know if she even wanted to broach that topic. Them being from completely different worlds was obvious from the get go. For the difference to be that huge though, their goal of meeting now seemed more insurmountable

Her lips wobbled as she tried to mouth the words in answer to his worried, questioning actions. But the words wouldn't form so she held up a trembling hand and drew a jagged X with a misshapen skull beside the uchiwa fan.

With her this close, she could observe the transition of emotions going through him from confusion to realisation to shock.

And while he was processing through it, she rested her forehead against the cool glass. Sasuke's relative. Of all people...with their realities so different, should they even be continuing this experiment? Wouldn't it be easier...to just stop now?

She lifted her head a bit and was about to start signing when her eyes widened at what he was doing. He managed to get closer without her noticing and laid a soft kiss in the middle of where her forehead had been across the transparent divide. 

He then gave her a look she’d never seen directed at her before. It was a mix of tenderness and resolution with a hint of heat that caused her mouth to dry and made her simultaneously want to run and hide or tackle him into a hug at the same time.

_ I still want to meet you.  _ Without her bringing up the topic, he had given her his answer.

* * *

_ It didn’t work. _

This was the 20th - or was it more? - try they did, merging the ideas of mind, space, and time into a convoluted array that they thought would finally work. When they had connected the final markings, the blood ink had glowed a bright blue and disappeared.

They had decided previously to try one variation each time and then spend the rest of the dream just conversing with each other, their bond growing more and more intimate each time.

That's how they got here. With his hand half splayed on the glass, right over the side of her face. How much he wished that his hand could go through and cup her cheek. 

When she leaned forward and gently touched her lips to the glass, right at the center of his palm, it felt like electricity buzzing through his veins. His hand tingled at just the  _ sight of it _ that when she met his gaze, he was sure that the longing in his eyes matched the ones he saw in hers.

By the time the dream ended, one line kept repeating itself in his mind.

“I will find you.” 

This resolve drove him in the ongoing days. He didn’t think he could stand it anymore. Seeing her randomly in his dreams. It was almost every night now, but the thought that one day she would no longer appear in front of him haunted his every waking moment. 

It didn’t matter what it took, he’d scour the five nations if need be, for a way to bring her to his reality.

* * *

Another dream and another test.

This could be it. It had taken them a lot longer than expected, but this seal should be the first step to finally being able to go past this barricade.

The red writing glowed unholy red this time and spiderweb cracks started appearing on the wall. Each line multiplied and blurred the other side until they could barely make out the shape of the other person through the tiny shards. Suddenly, the glass fully shattered and fell like rain onto the floor, clinking before disappearing into the abyss.

Sakura leaped forward, arms outstretched, finally getting a chance to touch him. She landed straight into his arms, the warmth of his embrace wrapping around her, unbidden tears forming at the corner of her eyes at the sensation.

Shisui buried his head against her hair, taking in the smell of jasmine with a hint of mint. He would never let her go. Now that they figured out how to break that barrier, he’ll find a way to bring her outside this dream dimension as well.

Sakura pulled away from him slightly to look up, the tear-streaked eyes filled with happiness suddenly shifting to horror. He raised a hand up to console her but nothing could prepare him for what he saw.

His hand… and his body was slowly going translucent. And looking down at her, he could see her gradually disappearing from the feet up, evaporating like air. He tried holding on to her again, but his hands just went past her frame, the only sensation he felt was when his fingertip touched her hair before moving through it.

“Shisui.” Her voice was soft like a melody, tinged with so much emotion that he could feel his own tears started rolling down his face. They finally managed to find a way! Why?!

“I lo-”

The rest of the sentence was lost, the two vanishing from the blank space before it could be completed.

* * *

Ino placed the sunflowers into the vase, adjusting them so that each one had ample space. It was also something for her to do in this stark hospital room, with only the short pulses of the chakra monitor to keep her company.

She sat down on the chair, grasping the limp hand against the edge of the bed.

_ When will you wake up?  _ She mentally asked the pink haired girl on the bed.

It was a shock to all of them, when Aunt Mebuki barged into the Hokage’s office, saying that Sakura wouldn't wake up.

Tsunade and Shizune tried to figure out what happened but the theory was that Sakura was trying out a jutsu and inadvertently placed herself in a coma. Unfortunately, without knowing the specifics of what she did, forcing her to wake up may damage her brain so the most they could do was keep her healthy and wait for her to wake up.

A month and a hlaf had already passed and she knew that some people had already given up. To be honest, she herself was close to losing hope. But Sakura's chakra beat was still strong. It meant that whatever it was, she was still alive in her subconscious.

* * *

Itachi and Sakura had just rounded the corridor when the sound of someone hitting the floor and the things falling to the ground, along with glass shattering came from one of the rooms.

They looked at each other and rushed forward, Itachi giving a cursory knock before pushing the sliding door open, seeing Shisui half lying on the floor, his blanket haphazardly twisted against his legs. The room was a mess. Scrolls were all over the place, with varying states of closed, opened, and some even jaggedly torn into uneven pieces. Amongst the ocean of paper were little shards of glass and tiny different colored pills.

They both lifted him off the floor, Sakura taking the brunt of his weight to push him back onto the bed, set in a recovery position. She stayed beside him making sure he remained on his left side while Itachi went to clean up some of the mess, trying to figure out what happened to his cousin.

Itachi scrutinised the tiny black ball he picked up from the floor before his eyes widened in recognition. Sleeping pills!

_ I haven’t been able to get to sleep recently, Itachi. I can’t stop thinking of the seal I’ve been working on. Do you have anything to help with that, at least temporarily? _

That bottle! It was supposed to be full! He scrambled to check how many of those pills were left on the ground and took a look at some of the other colored ones. These were...these were his tranquiliser doses! His experimental knock-out drugs?! How did Shisui get his hands on them?

“Itachi…” His terrified eyes met Sakura’s concerned ones, his hands crushing the pills in his hand. How could he have been so careless to not notice?!

“Ngggh..” Sakura turned and steadied her hold on the swaying, waking Uchiha. The moment Shisui opened his eyes and saw her, his lips curved into a drunk, loop-sided smile.

“I found you again.” He slurred, his voice still thick with sleep.

“Who are you looking for, Shisui-san?”

The question didn’t even register in his mind. Shock electrocuted him at the voice, half an octave deeper than  _ hers _ . The hand on his shoulder was calloused, unlike the soft fingers that had previously brushed against his neck that one time.

He bolted upright, finally realising where he was, eyes going past his cousin slowly standing from his place at the floor to his soon-to-be cousin-in-law. The troubled look on those eyes was like a splash of cold water to his senses. It was missing the gentle, caring,  _ loving _ warmth from  _ his  _ Sakura.

“NO!” He suddenly grasped her by the shoulders, shaking her in half-anger, half-desperation. “WHY CAN’T YOU BE HER?!”

Before Sakura could extricate herself from the hold via a well-placed lightning current, Itachi quickly placed his hands above his cousin's wrists, gripping tightly to force Shisui to let go of his fiancé. A pointed nudge of his head made Sakura return an understanding nod before she went off to get Mikoto.

Once she was out of sight, Shisui crumpled and curled up in himself, his hands going to his hair and clenching so hard that he could feel the strands of hair getting pulled out. But he didn't stop. He  _ welcomed _ the pain. And it was almost soothing compared to the hollowness in his chest at the realization that he was back in the world where she didn't exist.

He'd been trying everything he could think of to find his way back to her again, looking into seals and taking those pills to force himself to sleep. He hadn't seen her in  _ months _ ! And he felt like he would go crazy with the uncertainty.

“-sui. Shisui, listen to me!” The order came down along with a firm hand on his shoulder, breaking off his crazed mumblings of calculations and theories.

It was Aunt Mikoto and her usual motherly expression was combined with a tightening on her lips. 

“Now, what happened?” She sat down on his bedside and her hand on his shoulder moved to rub his back, using her other free hand to shoo her son out of the room.

He looked away from her to stare down at the thick comforter, his hands clenching and releasing the silk covers. 

A droplet of water hit the back of his palm, followed quickly by another. And the dam burst open. His shoulders shook as disjointed words heaved from his lungs in between breaths, forming fragments of memories filled with confusion, discovery, sadness, joy, love, and despair. 

Halfway through his story, Mikoto had moved and pulled him into her arms, slowly running her hand through his hair in comfort. It was clear from how haggard he looked, the way his voice hitched when he mentioned her name, and how he slumped into her embrace that he had been suffering for quite some time. 

And this was the only comfort she could give to her nephew. Because from the pieces she gathered, there didn’t seem to be any way for them to meet again.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes, slowly pushing herself up and taking in her surroundings. Her arms felt so weak, barely able to support her torso and her mouth felt so dry.

How long had she been out?

A crash of metal hitting the floor made her turn to look. Upon meeting her dull, green eyes, the nurse rushed out to grab either Tsunade or Shizune with the update.

Sakura didn't move. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her hands around it, curling into herself.

It didn't work. She'd spent all that time traversing every recesses of the dreamscape, walking on and on and on through the black empty void powered only by will and hope. Until her time had run out.

A sound of running footsteps registered lightly against her ear before taking center stage. Tsunade-sama would be so angry once she finds out someone was disregarding hospital policy.

The door to her room slammed open and then she was surrounded with warmth, arms wrapping around her as the dusty blond fringe brushed against her cheek.

A little bit of life entered her eyes as she returned the hug.

_ “I'm back, mama.” _

* * *

Mikoto watched as the three boys she considered as her children were practicing out in the garden, giving a more observant stare to the oldest.

He was improving bit by bit, considering everything. There were still times, whenever Itachi had Sakura over for dinner, that they would catch Shisui staring at her possessively. They once had to pull him back from tackling his cousin when Sakura had given Itachi a peck goodbye.

But the episodes were getting rarer, just as Inoichi said.

_ “Those dreams were real. However, that last seal they used; while it broke the divide between them, it also healed the mind meld that caused them to meet in the first place. There's really no cure for this type of thing except time. The longer they don't meet, the more the events will become blurrier until they’ll just be a memory.” _

They could only hope that the day where the dreams no longer haunt him would come sooner.

* * *

Sakura idly crossed her arms behind her, walking in the middle of her two idiots, content in the dynamic that they’ve finally reached after all these years. And the future was filled with hope.

She’s made her choice. She was moving forward. Life waits for no one. When Sasuke and Naruto held out their hands in front of her, she moved towards the Uchiha.

It was what she wanted, she told herself. What she had always wanted ever since she was a child.

And if, from time to time, she double takes walking past reflective surfaces or when she sees afterimages of curly hair and dark eyes overlapping on Naruto’s easy grins or Sasuke’s intense focus, no one else needs to know about it.

After all, it would become just another memory one day.  _ Right? _

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I'm not 100% satisfied with the some scene transitions of this fic.  
> But it is what it is. Maybe I'll re-write it in the future?


End file.
